Sunday, March 22, 2015

Momofuku Milk Bar confetti cookies

Make Momofuku Milk Bar's famous confetti bar cookies at home! Each cookie contains birthday cake crumbs, which takes ordinary "funfetti" cookies to the next level. A longer creaming process also makes these a soft and fudgy cookie.

How soon is it to start thinking about what cake you want for your birthday? Two weeks? Two months? Apparently in the mind of a 4 year old, 2 months is appropriate. Addie turns 5 (!!!) in April, and she started brainstorming her birthday cake about 2 months in advance. Sprinkles have been a non-negotiable requirement for this girl, so I'm thinking about fun ways to incorporate them into her cake.

In the meantime, I thought it would be fun to bake a Funfetti cookie. Rather than use a cake mix or even a homemade version, I thought I'd turn to the expert this time - Christina Tosi of Momofuku Milk Bar. She is the genius behind their best-selling "crack pie" and "cereal milk" creations. My brother bought me the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook a while ago and I have honestly been too intimidated to try any of the recipes until now.

The recipes look easy at first glance until you really start to read the ingredients. They usually call for one recipe of this, and another of that, and by the time you read what those sub-recipes are, you are committing to make several separate recipes that roll up into one. This cookie recipe, however, seemed manageable and not too difficult to try.

I made the birthday cake crumb the night before, and that only took about 5 minutes to prep. I threw everything into my stand mixer, baked for 20 minutes and allowed everything to cool overnight. The next morning, I started on the cookie dough and that wasn't too much different than any other cookie dough I've made. The dough does require at least 1 hour of refrigerator so make sure you take that into consideration before you start baking these.

Since the official recipe calls for some ingredients that the average cook/baker doesn't have (like glucose or grapeseed oil), I subbed them with some of the standard ingredients that Christina Tosi recommended.

These cookies were downright amazing. As pastry chef Christina Tosi promised, the exteriors of the cookies were nice and crispy, while the interiors were thick and almost fudge-like. The cake crumbs also added a fun, crunchy texture.

The recipe below makes 12-13 giant-sized cookies. Each was bigger than the palm of my hand and was at least 4 inches in diameter. Make sure you only put 6 cookies on a baking sheet or else they will run into each other.

Now to decide which one of Momofuku's recipes to try next...

Momofuku Milk Bar confetti cookiesBirthday cake crumb

1/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 Tablespoons light brown sugar, tightly packed

1/3 cup cake flour (If you don't have cake flour, simply take 1 cup of all-purpose flour and
replace 2 Tablespoons of it with cornstarch. Store the extra flour in
your pantry for next time)

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon rainbow sprinkles

1/8 cup canola oil

1/2 Tablespoon vanilla extract

Cookies

2 sticks (16 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 and 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 Tablespoon light corn syrup

2 eggs

2 Teaspoons vanilla extract

2 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup non-fat dry milk powder

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 and 1/4 teaspoons salt

1/4 cup rainbow sprinkles

DirectionsMake the birthday cake crumb: Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F. Line a baking pan or cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl if using a handheld mixer, mix the sugars, flour, baking powder, salt and sprinkles on low speed until everything is well combined.

Add the oil and vanilla and continue to mix until everything is well mixed. The batter will start to clump up a bit - this is what you are looking for.

Stop the mixer and evenly spread the clumps out on your prepared cookie sheet. Bake in your preheated oven for 20 minutes and occasionally break up the clusters. Remove the pan from the oven and allow to cool. The clumps will be slightly wet when baked but will harden as they cool. Set aside until you are ready to bake the cookies (alternatively, they can be stored in an airtight container and will keep for a week at room temperature or 1 month in the refrigerator or freezer).

Make the cookies: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl if using a handheld mixer, cream the butter, sugar and corn syrup together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs, one by one, and the vanilla and continue to mix on medium-high speed for another 7-8 minutes until the batter almost doubles in volume (Note: do not skimp on the mixing time for this. The extra mixing will yield a better cookie.).

Turn the mixer down to low and add the flour, milk powder, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt and rainbow sprinkles and mix for 1 minutes or until the dough just comes together. Do not overmix. Add the birthday cake crumbs and mix for 30 more seconds.

Using an ice cream scoop or a 1/3-cup measure, portion out the dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet (or line it with a silicone mat). Leave at least 4 inches in between each cookie since they will flatten and spread out. Roll the dough out into a ball and flatten the tops. Cover the baking sheets with plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour (and up to 1 week) in the refrigerator. Do not bake your cookies at room temperature - it will not work!

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Bake the cookies for 18 minutes. They will spread, puff and crackle on top. The cookies should be very lightly browned on the edges and the centers will have just a hint of color.

Allow the cookies to cool completely on the pans before transferring to wire rack to cool.

Cookies should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature and will keep for about 5 days. They can also be frozen for up to 1 month.

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